No Regrets


Reviewed by: XWingSuki

January 11, 2011

Rating: four-point-five

[b]Rosy Business II[/b]
also known as No Regrets (Note: I've not seen 'I' so please don't ask me about 'I')

[b]Synopsis[/b]
'No Regrets' is a fictional tale centering the neighborhood/housing area 'Chu Long Lei' (inside the Pig's Cage) where the citizens live in harmony. Enter honest police officer Lau Sing (awake). The hero of the story, he is made use of by his superior Leung Fei Fan, who has a thing for his wife, and he has no choice but to take it lying down as he has to earn money for his sister's medical fees. This, as well as family ties and friendship, is what eventually causes Sing to do tasks and collaborate with Miss Nine.

Opium merchant Cheng Long Kwan's daughter Cheng Kau Mui (Ninth Sister), whom everyone calls Miss Nine, crosses paths with Lau Sing one day when the bank owner almost goes bankrupt. Miss Nine admires his talent and skills. Lau Sing, being an upright and honest person, dislikes her in the first place but as time goes past, he settles his misunderstandings with her. And of course, being a woman, and a woman of high power, the heiress discovers she cares for him, as she requires his help more than once. This eventually develops into a budding friendship and partnership. However, everything changes with Guangzhou's attack by the Japanese..

[b]My Opinion[/b]
On the Main Plot

On the overall, this is a great drama depicting family ties, bonds, friendship and "yee hei"-- "brothership" or caring for people as if they are your siblings; the character she has that makes everyone trust Miss Nine with the triad. However, I was hoping for some greater "love scene" between the hero and heroine of the story in between, instead of the very end. And perhaps, something more dramatic.

On the Triads and Opium trade

I liked the union the triad members had for each other, and how they felt for each other, however Miss Nine's aunt Hei was rather irritating, and annoyed me for the whole drama. There were times I thought she would change and treat Miss Nine well for good, but I guess she never did, although Miss Nine was the one who started to treat her well close to the ending. She was too full of her son, and his ending was perfect. I wouldn't ever want to have a relative like that.On Chu Long LeiThe residents of Chu Long Lei have very different characters and personalities. There were various extremely touching scenes and you could just feel how they cared for each other. Unfortunately, Mrs. Yeung came as too selfish for her son at times.

Subplot: Lau Sing's sister Lau Ching's romance with his good buddy and neighbor Yeung Yeung

They had a very simple romance, as they grew up together. This was rather, the only romance in the drama, as I don't recall anyone else having an actual romance. It wasn't very significant to the main plot, which was the opium trade and the Japanese invasion, but good for someone who loves tragic endings and some love factor. Somehow, I felt the two-- Raymond Wong and Fala Chen-- had just too much screen time for us to get to know the other main characters more.

[b]Main Characters[/b]

Lau Sing-- Wayne Lai

Rosy Business 2 is probably the third drama series that he acted as the main lead, whereby others are coming up. I loved Lau Sing just as much as I loved his character in "pages of treasures"-- the kind brother, someone who gets accused by others but is actually innocent. He says his lines with much vigor and makes them very realistic, as if he "bonds" with the character he plays (Avatar language here). You can feel how real Lau Sing is, and how he feels for his friends. He is a very sacrificial person, where you can tell when he risks his life to protect Miss Nine and Pai Kuat.

Miss Nine--Sheren Tang

Beautiful, charming, intelligent and powerful-- that's how her character is designed to be. I'm surprised how Sheren's characters look "older/more mature" in some dramas but in this drama, she looks mature and yet, very beautiful! I like how her character is designed as "Power Woman" rather than the character she plays in "The Drive of Life". Aside from the compatibility of Sing and Nine's characters, the actors also had superior chemistry.

Yeung Yeung -- Raymond Wong
Tong Kat (Pai Kuat) -- Pierre Ngo

Tong Kat is the emotional friend, and Yeung Yeung is the cautious, logical friend. Both are loyal companions of Lau Sing, and would live and die with him. I would say Raymond acted much better here as compared to his previous role co-starring with Charmaine Sheh a few years ago as Joe Ma's younger brother. However, I seemed to like the super-emotional buddy Tong Kat rather than the calm go-by-instinct cautious Yeung Yeung-- I just seemed to feel that there wasn't much to his character other than being Lau Sing's brother-in-law. Also, why didn't Tong Kat end up with Yin Ping? I feel their plot was underdeveloped. They seemed to have a close friendship with each other in the first few episodes but it just changed into some neighbor stuff. I also liked Tong Kat because of his naive and ignorance, he does seem silly at times but who nowadays would actually pledge his life to his friend?

Lau Ching-- Fala Chen

Her role is more of a supporting role. Lau Ching loves her brother and Yeung Yeung very much, but it seemed her sickness actually contained her more than anything else, giving the scriptwriter less chance to actually explore Lau Ching's character. Like Raymond, Fala's acting skills has improved past "Moonlight Resonance". The only disappointing thing was how they made her seem "ugly" by giving her a very plain look and extremely short hairstyle for the whole drama.

Heung Shan Tit Ye-- King Kong

I've not seen this actor much, but I read that he received the Most Improved Actor Award for this drama. I think the actor did a very good job, but he looked more chinese than anything else (the same goes for the actor who played his brother). On the overall, Heung Shan's character was very well-developed and strong-willed as well as respectable. He had a very good friendship with both Lau Sing and Miss Nine, who he admired deeply, one for his skills, and the other for her power. He takes his own words very seriously, and he also cherishes friendship. However, his Japanese side also kicks in -- the cruel, ruthless, greedy side. I ended up hating him as much as I liked him for his strengths. (The other Japanese guy was annoying though). I liked how he died in the end.

Leung Fei Fan -- Evergreen Mak

He must be the most annoying antagonist character I've ever seen. I've seen him in villain roles before, but they are either pathetic or he's more like "turned to the dark side" from the good side. However, Fei Fan is really annoying-- he's too greedy, selfish and power-abusive!! However, when he died, it was so touching. Good work on Evergreen in showing the transition from the power-greedy liar guy who stole Sing's wife to the someone who finally started believing in retribution.

Minor characters

Ma Lai Wah-- Nancy Wu

Lai Wah is the daughter of Nine's godsister, but she marries Nine's dad, making her Nine's little stepmother. She was really annoying for the whole of the drama, although she kept promising Nine she would turn over a new leaf. It was obvious she desired power all her life, and neglected everyone else. She also had a horrible temper and could blow up at anyone, and she was also a very scheming and crafty person. Perhaps Nancy Wu had the knack for acting as a crafty woman or someone annoying, but I wished she would actually be someone responsible, instead of continuously lying to get her way.

Cheng Long Hei-- Susan Tse

As said earlier; however I would note that she is the type of female antagonist who is charming despite her old age and has very sharp facial features. And very good body language-- when Hei turns and walks calmly down the stairs, you just anticipate something is about to happen.

Cheng Long Kwan -- Ngok Wah

As usual; the father-figure. Of course he acts pretty well, if you've seen his other dramas such as Gem of Life, you'll know.

Mrs Yeung -- Kara Hui

You'll like her acting skills and how well she cries, but then, I felt she was being overprotective of her son, who was, obviously, well past 24.

Some Loopholes

-so, is Miss Nine really Kwan-Ye's daughter? I think so. But she doesn't elaborate on that..-how did Yeung Yeung survive the gunshots while escaping with Ching's medicine and come back with no blood on his
shirt?
-where is Lai Wah in the final part of the drama? Why is there nothing on her kids etc

[b]Finally, I'd like to say...[/b]

I really loved the fighting scenes, gunshots, and emotional parts of the drama, ... so is there a part 3? Most unlikely though, as it ends in 1984. Perhaps a modern-day drama for part 3?
More Wayne and Sheren dramas please


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